Charity Never Faileth...

I am glued to my tv watching people wander around the car-free freeway in New Orleans. Underneath the overpass swirls 10 feet of water on what should be the surface streets of the city. Cars in elevated parking structures are nearly buried in the water - who knows what's underneath the water at street level...

People have nowhere to go. They are refugees who got flooded out of their homes. Their mayor told them to go to the Super Dome, but the Super Dome is surrounded by 5 feet of water and they can't get to it. Many of them spent the night sleeping on concrete and blacktop. There are children there - that breaks my heart.

My 7 year old said, "Mommy, what can we do to help?" Good question. Out of the mouth of babes comes wisdom.

I belong to the largest women's organization in the entire world. It has over 5 million members worldwide. It is the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We can help - we will help - I imagine that less than 24 hours later - we WERE helping...

I was in Salt Lake City this summer at a church visitors center. There was a display about the Humanitarian Relief Agency of the church. I watched a movie about Kosovo and cried my eyes out right there in the building. The Humanitarian Services department is SO organized. They astonished other world relief agencies in Kosovo. On Monday, the needs were assessed at church headquarters and by FRIDAY, they were handing out food and personal toiletries packs to 20,000 families in a refugee camp. The UN was floored that charity could mobilize that quickly and in such an organized manner. Many people think "Mormons" only take care of their own - we don't - we take care of those in need. And, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, the first planes arriving at a disaster area usually carry supplies from the LDS church. They may have another organization's name on the side of the plane or truck, but you can bet the boxes inside are marked "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints". And, there are no Bibles or Books of Mormon inside those boxes - only relief supplies. We don't do it to spread our religion, we do it to help. We believe that "Charity is the pure love of Christ". It's the right thing to do...

I am wary of "charities". They have so much overhead and a dollar donated becomes 70 cents OR less of actual relief. The rest goes to paying directors and workers. I want my WHOLE dollar to help those in need - not make the payment on the director's Volvo. That's why I LOVE the LDS Foundation/Humanitarian Services. 100% of donations go directly to relief. The administrative costs of the program are paid out of other funds - not donated ones. I think it is rare to find any large-scale charity that can say that.

You don't have to be a member of the LDS Church to donate. Anyone can. And, donating doesn't mean that missionaries will come knocking at your door. Donors are not considered potential converts. Here is the link to make a donation online LDS HUMANITARIAN SERVICES Look for the donation link on the top left side of the page.

Now, I am off to find some odd-jobs for my kids to do so they can earn some money to help. I will match what they earn and then add my own donation. For now, our family prayers are with the thousands and thousands of people who will return to absolute devestation. The thought of rebuilding their lives will be completely overwhelming... God Bless them.